Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has thanked Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal for being behind their recent success.
The current United boss led the Bundesliga side for two years from 2009 and almost sealed a famous treble, narrowly missing out on the Champions League final.
Sacked in 2011, Van Gaal since moved on to take over at Netherlands and now with United, but Rummenigge feels that his impact is still being felt at the Allianz Arena.
“If you see our ball possession today, I would say the first steps were the benefits from Louis van Gaal,” Rummenigge told The Times.
“We hired him to bring a new philosophy and I believe — I still believe — that from the technical and tactical point of view, he’s a very good coach.
“He changed the system here and I’m convinced he will do it as well at Manchester United.”
Bayern sit four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga ahead of Saturday’s big clash with Borussia Dortmund and Rummenigge has discussed Pep Guardiola’s impact on the club.
“Even now, I have learnt a lot from how he interprets football, which is totally different to what I had in my mind before,” Rummenigge continued.
“He has a fantastic philosophy. The main basis is the midfield, ball possession, controlling the ball in midfield. He is doing that, I would say, in a different style to how he did it at Barcelona.
“Here we come a bit quicker to the conclusion, which maybe takes in part of our culture in Germany.”